R I look from afar:
and lo, I see the power of God coming,
and a cloud covering the whole earth.
† Go ye out to meet him and say:
‡ Tell us, art thou he that should come
†† to reign over thy people Israel?V High and low, rich and poor, one with another. †V Hear, O thou shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep. ‡V Stir up thy strength, O Lord, and come. ††V Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. R

R I look from afar:
and lo, I see the power of God coming,
and a cloud covering the whole earth.
† Go ye out to meet him and say:
‡ Tell us, art thou he that should come
†† to reign over thy people Israel?V High and low, rich and poor, one with another. †V Hear, O thou shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep. ‡V Stir up thy strength, O Lord, and come. ††V Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. R

The most general definition of a responsory is any psalm, canticle, or other sacred musical work sung responsorially, that is, with a cantor or small group singing verses while the whole choir or congregation respond with a refrain. However, this article focuses on those chants of the western Christian tradition that have traditionally been designated by the term responsory. In the Roman Rite and rites strongly influenced by it, such as the pre-reformation English rite and the monastic rite of the Rule of St. Benedict, these chants ordinarily follow readings[1]:61[2] at services of the Divine Office (also called the Liturgy of the Hours); however, they have also been used as processional chants.[1]:91A responsory has two parts: a respond (or refrain), and a verse.[3]:181–182,331 Methods of performance vary, but typically the respond will be begun by the cantor then taken up by the entire choir. The verse is then sung by a cantor or a small group; or the verse can be begun by the cantor and continued by the entire choir.[3]:196–198 The chant concludes with a repetition of all or part of the respond. Sometimes the second repetition of the respond is followed by a half-doxology, Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto, sung by the cantor, followed in turn by a third repetition of all or part of the respond.

That same article elaborates on Aspiciens a longe, as well:

Most responsories have a single verse, but a few have multiple verses.[3]:184–185 One of the most famous of the latter is the responsory Aspiciens a longe, sung on the first Sunday of Advent after the first reading in the night office of the Latin secular (non-monastic) rite. The version that was sung in the medieval rite of Salisbury cathedral was worded as follows:[5]

Respond:Aspiciens a longe et ecce video Dei potentiam venientem et nebulam totam terram tegentem. Ite obviam ei et dicite, Nuntia nobis si tu es ipse qui regnaturus es in populo Israel. (I look from afar, and behold I see the power of God coming, and a cloud covering the whole earth. Go out to meet him and say, tell us if you are the one who is to reign over the people of Israel.)

1st verse (sung by a boy) Quique terrigenae et filii hominum simul in unum dives et pauper (Whoever are earth-born, the sons of men, together in one rich and poor)Partial respond (sung by the choir) Ite obviam ei et dicite, Nuntia nobis si tu es ipse qui regnaturus es in populo Israel. (Go out to meet him and say, tell us if you are the one who is to reign over the people of Israel.)

2nd verse (sung by a boy) Qui regis Israel intende, qui deducis velut ovem Joseph (Hear, O shepherd of Israel, who leadest Joseph like a sheep)Partial respond (sung by the choir) Nuntia nobis si tu es ipse qui regnaturus es in populo Israel. (Tell us if you are the one who is to reign over the people of Israel.)

3rd verse (sung by a boy) Excita Domine potentiam tuam et veni ut salvos facias nos (Stir up your power O Lord and come that you may save us)Partial respond (sung by the choir) Qui regnaturus es in populo Israel. (O you who are to reign over the people of Israel.)

Half-doxology (sung by all three boys) Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto (Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost)Partial respond (sung by the choir) In populo Israel. (In the people of Israel.)

The three boys then sang Aspiciens a longe whereupon the choir took up the full respond: et ecce video Dei potentian venientem et nebulam totam terram tegentem. Ite obviam ei et dicite, Nuntia nobis si tu es ipse qui regnaturus es in populo Israel. (I look from afar, and behold I see the power of God coming, and a cloud covering the whole earth. Go out to meet him and say, tell us if you are the one who is to reign over the people of Israel.)

This responsory, Aspiciens a longe, has become familiar in the English-speaking world in an arrangement published in the second volume of Carols for Choirs edited by David Willcocks and John Rutter,[6] where it is given the title "Matin Responsory", and is set to music adapted from a setting by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina of the Nunc dimittis (free score of the Nunc dimittis here on CPDL) - and not of the Magnificat as stated by the editors. The structure of the Willcocks/Rutter arrangement, however, differs somewhat from what is shown above since it does not repeat the refrain after each verse in the traditional English way. For example, in the traditional English form (shown above) after the first verse, the choir sings all the words of the refrain from ite obviam ei to the end. In the Willcocks/Rutter arrangement, on the other hand, after the first verse the choir sings (in English translation) only the portion of the refrain corresponding to the Latin words ite obviam ei et dicite.

And this is from the services of Mattins itself for the first Sunday in Advent, and from the "Trident 1570" version at Divinum Officium:

R.I look from afar, and behold I see the Power of God, coming like as a cloud to cover the land with the hosts of his People: * Go ye out to meet him and say: * Tell us if thou art he, * That shalt reign over God's people Israel.V.All ye that dwell in the world, all ye children of men, high and low, rich and poor, one with another. Go ye out to meet him and say.V.Hear, O thou Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep. Tell us if thou art he.V.Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in. That shalt reign over God's people Israel.V.Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.R.I look from afar, and behold I see the Power of God, coming like as a cloud to cover the land with the hosts of his People: * Go ye out to meet him and say: * Tell us if thou art he, * That shalt reign over God's people Israel.

I haven't found a chant score for this so far; still looking. EDIT: I did finally find it, in the Liber Hymnarius:

2 comments:

Eventually, you might like the following recording processing of the Offertorium of 1st Advent.It was more or less because of an accident and not an idea which lead me to the processing. But nevertheless, the more I hear it, the more I like it. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_GgszrWQoO-RTRza051b2ZQVTAemail to wrtlx@gmx.de or feel free to leave a comment inhttp://gregorianischer-choral.blogspot.de/2015/11/dominica-prima-adventus-offertorium-ad.html.